Genesis 15:1-16 ▼

1 After these things the word of YHWH came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am a shield to you; your reward is exceedingly great.”

2 And Abram said, “O Lord YHWH, what can You give to me, and I go childless, and the son of possession of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

3 And Abram said, “Behold, You have not given to me offspring; and behold, a son of my house is inheriting me.”

4 And behold, the word of YHWH came to him, saying, “This one will not inherit you, but rather one who will come from your inward parts, he will inherit you.”

5 And He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall be your seed.”

6 And he believed in YHWH, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

7 And He said to him, “I am YHWH who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give to you this land to possess it.”

8 And he said, “Lord YHWH, by what shall I know that I will possess it?”

9 And He said to him, “Bring Me a heifer being three years old, and a female goat being three years old, and a ram being three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

10 And he brought to Him all these, and he cut them in two in the middle and placed each piece opposite the other; and the bird he did not cut in two.

11 And the bird of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12 And the sun was going down, and a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And behold, a terror of great darkness fell upon him.

13 And He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.

14 And the nation whom they serve I will judge, and after this, they shall come out with great possessions.

15 And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.

16 And the fourth generation, they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite here is not yet complete.”